It finally feels like Halloween season is upon us, with the first spooky show of the season -- the
"Pretty Little Liars" Halloween special, titled "This Is a Dark Ride."

When we last left the Liars, Nate was revealed as Maya's killer, Emily stabbed him in self defense, Caleb had been shot and Toby was revealed to be in some kind of cahoots with Mona and possibly "A." And when we pick things up, Mona is being uber-creepy by painting a paper mache head while singing the "Teddy Bears Picnic" song. And the chills didn't stop there ...

We honestly thought the death was going to be the biggest moment of the episode, but we were wrong -- it was at best the third biggest moment. So let's get to some discussion, shall we?

So, Garrett Reynolds is no longer amongst the living. We had a feeling from the opening scene with Toby that Garrett was a goner -- Toby was being all menacing and Garrett wanted to tell Spencer something important about the night Alison died.

Luckily, we were wrong that Garrett would be offed before he could talk to Spencer. We thought for sure that's where the episode was going. But Garrett does manage to tell Spencer two really juicy details about the night Alison died before he buys the proverbial farm.

First, Jenna thinks Garrett killed Ali because he hit a tree with the field hockey stick (with Alison standing right there) and Jenna was blind at the time, so she didn't know the difference. Ali went along with it and put her finger to her lips so he wouldn't say anything. Secondly, when Garrett came back to Ali's backyard, she was arguing ... with Aria's dad. What is
that about?!

Ali says to Byron, "I'm not the one who makes people do these things. You don't pay for your mistakes, how can you become a better person?"

Is she talking about his affair? Something tells us she's not -- it has to be something else, right? Any theories, PLL fans? What if Byron was involved with Ali? Do you think the show would go there? That would be rather wicked and yet awesome and would really explain why he was SO insane about Aria and Ezra.

Ali's body in the cooler was a total holy crap moment -- we actually let loose with some profanity right out loud. What a terrific reveal. But then it was kind of topped by the hand coming out of the ground in the final scene.

Do you think that was a flashback to Ali being buried alive? But then, how did she have dirt in her lungs if she managed to essentially dig her way out? Does someone come along and pour concrete over her right then? Or is that not a flashback? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.

Thoughts & Tidbits

Garrett started his little speech to Spencer in an interesting way -- "Honestly, I'm sorry. I liked you. You were the one I really wanted to keep safe, but I wasn't strong enough. I thought I had everything under control, but I didn't. I didn't even really know what the game was about."

We hope the show comes back to that. Why did Garrett like Spencer the best? What is this "game"? There has to be more to it than just the NAT club goofing around.

We aren't sure how we feel about the creepy little girl at Ashley and Hanna's house. She obviously was supposed to look like a young Alison, but it felt a little disjointed, taking us away from the train. It maybe would've worked better if the entire episode had been on the train, after the precursory stuff in the beginning.

What's up with Jason and Lucas? Did you notice their background interactions? Any thoughts there?

The Harlequin mask wasn't quite as creepy as the Psycho Baby Doll, but it got the job done.

Do you suppose the "A" team on the train was the real "A" plus Mona and Toby? It seems like it would almost have to be.

And finally, in case you were wondering, the four movies for the Liars' costumes are "The Seven-Year Itch" for Hanna, "The Great Gatsby" for Aria (though of course she went with a book), "To Have and Have Not" for Spencer and "Barbarella" for Emily.

So, what did you think of the "Pretty Little Liars" second annual Halloween special? We thought it was pretty spectacular.